LEMON ROASTED GARLIC CHICKEN

A great succulent juicy roasted chicken with creamy roasted garlic purée and caramelised lemons with a hint of citrus sour roasting pan gravy this is a fabulous Sunday family roast dinner.

Prep time 10 minutes / Cooking time 1 hr / Resting time 15 minutes

Ingredients 

(serves 4)

1 large organic chicken

3 whole bulbs garlic

2 lemons thickly sliced

1 lemon halved

2 onions halved

3 sprigs fresh thyme

2 sprig fresh oregano

6 fresh sage leaves 

2 bay leaves

Olive oil

Himalayan sea salt 

Fresh ground black pepper

300 ml chicken stock

150 ml dry white wine

1 knob butter

Pre heat your oven to 200 C / 392 F.  Place the halved lemon and bay leaves in to the cavity of the chicken, rub the whole bird with olive oil and generously season all over with salt and pepper place the chicken in a roasting tin, put the onion halves, whole garlic bulbs and sliced lemons in a large bowl, toss generously in olive oil, salt and pepper and add to the roasting tin around the chicken, lay on the herbs and place in the oven, cook for 20 minutes at 200 C / 392 F then turn the oven down to 180 C / 356 F for a further 30 minutes.

To check your chicken is cooked piece the thickest part of the thigh with a metal skewer and leave there for 15 seconds, remove and place the skewer tip on your top lip if it’s hit and the juices run clear it’s done.  Remove from the roastin tin and cover with a cloth or foil and rest for 10-15 minutes.

To make roasting tin gravy, reserve the sliced lemons and garlic bulbs to one side, squeeze out the garlic purée for serving later, place the roasting tin on the stove on a medium heat, use one teaspoon the purée of one of the bulbs of garlic and place in to the gravy pan, add a couple of slices of lemon, along with the white wine and reduce by half, using a masher crush all the onions and ingredients together releasing their flavours in to the gravy, add the chicken stock and bring to a simmer, taste and season if needed, lastly add all the juices from the rested chicken, add a knob of butter, stir in then pour the gravy through a sieve in to a jug and serve with your gorgeous succulent chicken along with the caramelised lemon slices and garlic purée.

I serve this with goose fat basted classic roast potatoes.